Pesto is one of the easiest and most delicious sauces to make.
The result is an emerald green powerhouse of flavor that can make so many thingstaste better.
While, yes, it is high in calories, a little goes a long way.
Courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod
If you have the time and the ingredients try thiseasy pesto recipe.
First, a jarred or refrigerated pesto should be as close to real things as possible.
Garlic, salt, and spices are normally present, but they shouldn’t overwhelm the sauce.
An acid, usually lemon juice, will add flavor and tartness.
Here are some to steer clear of and a couple to keep stocked in your kitchen.
Almonds, Pecorino, and some pine nuts come up next.
This is a powder that may or may not taste like pesto.Maltodextrinis the first ingredient, followed by salt.
When you use the whole packet as directed, the sodium becomes astronomical.
This sauce uses sunflower oil and some kind of “hard grated cheese.”
Cashews come before pine nuts on the list and it contains some added sugar.
It is high in calories for a quarter-cup serving and a big no-no with 980 milligrams of sodium.
It uses cashews instead of pine nuts so the flavor could be different than you’re used to.
Yes, that’s 400 calories and 36 grams of fat.
To quote Martha Stewart, that’s a good thing.
However, traditional olive oil is replaced with soybean oil.
Is that why they need the natural flavor?
Things that make you go, hmm… Two tablespoons have 160 calories, so use sparingly.
Spinach is added, most likely for color.
It uses Grana Padano cheese but no pine nuts, opting for cashews instead.
This is an oily sauce and has a sneaky amount of carbs.
They add a little olive oil, most likely for flavor and they use Romano cheese instead of Parmesan.
At 200 calories per quarter-cup serving, this isn’t a bad option.
Basil and EVOO are the first ingredients in this sauce.
It also contains pine nuts, Parmesan, and garlic.
The only thing missing islemon juice.
37% basil, 36% olive oil, and 5% Parmesan cheese.
Plus, this isn’t just any Parmesan, but Parmesan Reggiano, the real stuff.
It has cashew flour too, most likely for consistency, but pine nuts do make an appearance.
Potato flakes and sugar are an odd toss-in at the end but seem to be used sparingly.
Read more:
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